Platynereis dumerilii

Platynereis dumerilii, a marine polychaetous annelid or ragworm.is considered a living fossil. Platynereis dumerilii lives in the same environment as its ancestors millions of years ago and still has many ancestral features. On of the most interesting ancient features this marine worm has retained is an eye like structure called an eyespot.

Eyespots are found in the larvae of marine ragworm and are simplest eyes that exist. They resemble the first eyes that developed in animal evolution and allow the larvae to navigate guided by light. Studying the eyespots of Platynereis dumerilii, larva is probably the closest scientists can get to figuring out what eyes looked like when they first evolved.

The preserved ancestral features of Platynereis dumerilii, make it useful for many areas of research, particularly developmental evolution. Platynereis dumerilii, is used for the comparison of segmentation between annelids and arthropods, because it comes closer to the putative ancestral morphology and style of development than other model annelids with indirect development.

The Platynereis dumerilii are also a good species to use for research as they can be continuously bred in the laboratory.

Species detail

P. dumerilii presents several advantageous features a model organism for scientific research

It can be bred in the laboratory
Exhibits an ancestral-type body plan
Displays indirect development through a ciliated trochophora larva
Produces several thousands of offspring in this singular act of spawning

Taxonomy

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Evolution

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Distribution

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Biology

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Uses

Find out about the advantageous features of Platynereis dumerilii that make it a model organism for the lophotrochozoan group.
References

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